The present invention relates generally to cleaning devices and more specifically to an improved air-liquid separator for cleaning devices.
In surface cleaning devices, generally a fluid is projected onto the surface to be cleaned and the dirty fluid is removed by a suction nozzle. An air-liquid separator is generally provided to remove air from the waste liquids and disburse the air into the atmosphere. Generally, tortuous paths are used to separate the heavier fluids from the lighter air. A typical example of an effective separator is a centrifugal separator. This may take the shape of a spiral as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 1,910,325 or just a generally cylindrical housing as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,955,674.
Other systems use a pair of 180.degree. fluid flow direction changes to effectuate a separation. A typical example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,844.
An object of the present invention is to provide a more effective separator for use in a cleaning device.
Another object of the present invention is to increase the efficiency of a centrifugal separator in a cleaning device.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a more efficient separator with a minumum number of parts.
These and other objects of the invention are attained by a separator having the mixed fluid introduced tangentially about a conical shroud with the air outlet being interior the shroud. The spiraling of the mixture down the vertically increasing conical shroud forces the mixture to the higher speed area thereby increasing centrifugal separation.